The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) understands it has a problem and a responsibility to deal with Veteran suicide. Too many lives are lost not just on the battlefield but because of its ongoing effects, in addition to the other stresses that military life can bring upon our nation’s heroes. An initiative to take on Veteran suicide was started by the VA, and as a part of that, Mission Daybreak was born. Technically, the program began as the Suicide Prevention Grand Challenge and evolved into its current form. But what's important is that there are now winners of the challenge who've come up with remarkable solutions. The winners of Mission Daybreak are set to improve the lives of American Veterans around the world. Related: New Veteran Suicide Report Shows Positive News

Mission Daybreak Has an Objective Unlike Any Other

Mission Daybreak has a noble mission, to reduce the number of Veterans who take their lives via suicide. This is being done through more than just awareness, however, and also through action, paired with the investment of $20 million. The VA began outsourcing help to find solutions to help prevent Veteran suicide, and it's a good thing they did. This is because everyone is different, resulting in different factors, needs, and issues surrounding Veteran suicide. This collaboration from the Mission Daybreak VA initiative has a tall task ahead considering just 2019 alone saw 6,261 U.S. Veterans take their own lives. All American communities struggle with mental health and suicide, but the impact within the Veteran community is out of balance. While suicide is preventable, it’s a complex issue requiring multiple methods and resources. The Mission Daybreak challenge is not to simply spend money for possible solutions but to also sift through the data, select the best options, and apply various techniques through accessible solutions for Veterans. The process has been ongoing since Phase 1 of the challenge began on May 25, 2022. But now, winners have emerged for VA Mission Daybreak, and there are monetary awards getting handed out to help advance the outstanding ideas that will look to lower the number of Veteran suicides we see every day.

Meet the Winners

Mission Daybreak Veterans will be helped by a multitude of innovative solutions. The end goal will be to prevent suicides and a variety of options to do this are becoming available. Recipients of the Mission Daybreak grant come in different tiers. Here’s how Veterans will soon receive help for their mental health: First-Place Winners Receiving $3 Million The first of the first-place winners is the Stop Soldier Suicide’s Black Box Project, which aims to use technology to review data from Veterans we’ve lost to suicide and develop solutions to determine risk patterns based on machine learning. Televeda’s Project Hózhó is a mental health app and plan that also won first place. It’s being aimed at helping Veterans that are also a part of the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) community. The tool took insight from the AIAN community to help reach those using tribal health practices to prevent suicide and increase accessibility to VA resources. Suggested Read: The Proposed Holiday That Would Focus on Veteran Suicide PreventionSecond-Place Winners Receiving $1 Million ReflexAI is using AI to help train and retain personnel working at the Veterans Crisis Line. Using a three-pronged approach consisting of simulation, feedback, and quality assurance, the technology will help improve the capabilities of the service. Battle Buddy provides a virtual app for mental health and wellness but is not skimping on the human touch. Even though AI-led content is involved, along with an app that can be worn to track vital health signals. Overall, the AI is interactive and conversational and based on the VA’s Suicide Safety Planning program. Sentinel is a mobile app looking to help reduce Veteran suicide by helping safely store firearms and medication. There is a support network to help foster community with fellow Veterans and is looking to help prevent tragedies in the process. Third-Place Winners Receiving $500,000 Even Health’s Cabana® is using its VR-based platform for group support. This is aimed at helping Veterans that survive their suicide attempt to provide a support system moving forward from the event. Team Guidehouse is creating a data platform that will assess social issues linked with mental health and social media data. This is going to help pinpoint at-risk Veterans in real-time to provide a path for preventing suicides. OxfordVR’s gameChange, is another digital offering working with the Food and Drug Administration’s Breakthrough Device designation. The goal is to help treat the isolation that can occur in people suffering from mental health issues such as PTSD before a crisis were to arise. NeuroFlow provides Veterans with 24/7 resources and online care. Furthermore, the platform will measure the behavioral health of users to help provide preventative care. This is customized care that is based on a variety of factors including geography, benefits, and more. Overwatch Project is a winner of the Mission Daybreak Veterans Affairs challenge that will look to help Veterans intervene with their friends that may be at risk. This help can come through helping store or hold firearms, or simply engaging with each other within the community.

The Real Winners of Mission Daybreak Are Our Veterans

As the nation continues to work toward improving mental health across American communities, awareness is still important. But without solutions, how can we improve? This is why Mission Daybreak’s real winners aren’t the groups themselves but the Veterans that will be helped through the program. The good news is that the statistic of 22 Veteran suicides per day doesn’t accurately depict the problem. However, the issue remains that the actual number these days is 17 and that’s still entirely too many. Our nation’s heroes deserve the investment in their health and well-being, and they deserve these new tools that are becoming available to them. Mission Daybreak and the other initiatives undertaken by the VA and the White House continue to point in a positive direction for the military community and by extension, the American community overall. Read Next: Veteran TBI and Suicide Are Directly Related; Get To Know the Facts About TBI